But things took a turn for the worse when the couple, alongside two guides, floated down the Zambezi River near Victoria Falls in a canoe. The group unknowingly floated near a Hippopotamus and her young offspring, hiding under the water. The animal, being protective of her young, swam underneath the canoe and flipped it into the air. Frantically, Ryan escaped to a nearby island in the stream, but Kristen wasn’t so lucky.

The birthday girl was dragged under the water by the angry Hippo, which also snapped its teeth down on her leg, breaking her femur. Thankfully, she was able to get away, but had to wait an hour for medical helicopter transport to arrive. She had to wait a full 13 hours before being admitted into a hospital in South Africa where she remains in intensive care.

It all sounds very bad, but Kristen was apparently lucky. The animal’s flat teeth simply crushed her bones, however, if one of its incisors had hit a major artery, she likely would have died in a matter of minutes.